April 28, 2010

poem #18 (a 31-word prose poem)

arizona holds no brief for mlk day or the possibly sans papiers. will mccain’s daughter—no, the other one—be among those pulled over for driving while brown? i’m reasonably suspicious.

[According to the folks at Color of Change.org: “Last week, Arizona passed a new law that makes racial profiling legal and, in effect, requires police to stop people based on their race and ethnicity. Arizona’s new law, SB 1070, says that police must question anyone they have “reasonable suspicion” of being an undocumented immigrant. Translation: police can now stop and harass people for no other reason than that they are brown-skinned or speak Spanish.”

I know it makes no sense that I use the French term for undocumented immigrants, rather than the Spanish, but I don’t know the Spanish term! (Well, that, and I love the rhyme…) If anyone knows enough Spanish to help me, please leave a comment. :-)]

[*Update*: You can sign a petition to boycott Arizona in protest of this new law here.]